Thicker than Water
by TheMoonclaw
Summary: There was something eerily familiar about her, but it took a long moment for the pieces to fall into place. He blinked, "Izayoi?" One-shot.


**Alright, so...I stupidly went to view the IoS videos of TAY and...ended up watching my favorites AGAIN (seriously, this is my fourth viewing on the parts I like...) And because of that, I decided to write up all the ideas I had for random scenes that don't fit into any long stories.**

**Thus, expect a few one-shots over the next few weeks.**

**This is the first of those one-shots, and is something I've had in mind for forever...**

**Please do note, I assume if you are reading you know the minor tweaks I've made to this universe and I don't have to say anything more.**

* * *

"You have a visitor," the seneschal said.

Edge glared at him, "If this is another person to pester me about anything, then have them tell you what their problem is, and then _you_ can pester me. Let's just streamline the whole process, shall we?"

"We may have to if you keep randomly disappearing," the old man complained.

Edge grinned, "It's not really that random, actually. It's when there's someone I want to avoid, or a meeting to avoid, or-"

"Go to your office," the seneschal ordered, pointing.

He sighed, "I hate my office. It reeks of _work_,"

"Imagine that," the seneschal deadpanned, frowning at him.

Edge returned his frown and crossed his arms, "Who is this person, anyway?"

"If you go, you'll find out!" the old man said, pushing on him.

He let him prod him down the hallway, still annoyed. "You're being kind of pushy about it,"

"Because it's important,"

"It better be, or I'm coming to find you," he threatened.

The seneschal sighed, "If I died, you would be bored, so I know you won't kill me."

"…This is true," Edge conceded.

He almost dug his heels in when they arrived at his office door, but he supposed he couldn't avoid everyone he wanted too, all the time. The seneschal gave him a shove inside and then slammed the door closed, obviously feeling triumphant.

Edge stifled an annoyed sigh and glare for later that he could use on the man and instead focused on this _visitor_ he was supposed to be dealing with.

He was surprised to see her sitting on his desk, one leg crossed over the other. Her long hair was dark, but not black; it was more of a chocolate color.

There was _something_ eerily familiar about her, but it took a long moment for the pieces to fall into place.

He blinked, "Izayoi?"

She smiled slowly, "I wasn't sure you'd recognize me,"

"I almost didn't!" he exclaimed. "I don't know if I can get away with calling you _little cousin_ anymore…"

She gave a short laugh and jumped to her feet, crossing the short distance between them in a few steps and hugged him. It felt somewhat hesitant, as if she wasn't sure what he would do, and he stifled a sarcastic comment at her expense and just embraced her back.

"What are you doing here?"

Izayoi looked up at him with a grin, "Coming to see you, obviously."

He supposed it was obvious, but she was the last person he'd expected to see, even if some nagging thought in the back of his mind told him he really should have seen this coming.

She perched back on his desk, giving him a once over. "I can't believe I'm going to say this, but, you look the same."

"You don't," Edge replied, likewise studying her.

Izayoi looked faintly insulted. "No, I don't suppose I do."

Her appearance was drastically different then last time he'd seen her, and even though her voice itself had changed, the inflection hadn't. She still spoke was if he was speaking nonsense.

There was a pause.

"So," she said, drawing the word out. "Who's Rydia?"

He froze.

Izayoi waved a hand over the surface of his desk, "I mean, there's at least a dozen half written letters to her,"

"You went through my mail?" Edge gripped, gathering the papers she had pointed out and shoving them in the nearest drawer.

She crossed her arms and frowned at him, "I was _bored_! It took you forever to show up!"

"I forgot how annoying you could be,"

"Aren't you glad I'm back?" Izayoi commented, grinning.

Edge stared at her for a moment before flopping into his chair, "Let me think on that one,"

"So, Rydia?" his cousin prompted.

He had hoped to steer the conversation away from that topic, but Izayoi wasn't stupid. She could track conversations despite his best efforts to evade her.

Hoping to sound indifferent, he shrugged. "She's one of the people that I saved the world with."

Izayoi smirked, "Is she cute?"

"I'm going to deport you back to Troia," Edge threatened, pinning her with a glare.

His cousin shifted, eyes averted to the other end of the room and lips pulled into a slight scowl.

"Izzy," he questioned, knowing she was hiding something.

Her eyes narrowed, "Don't call me that! You know I always hated that nickname,"

"What's up?"

She sighed and sagged in defeat, tipping her head back to sigh at the ceiling. "I can't go back, alright? I got kicked out."

"…Of Troia," Edge asked to clarify.

She sighed again and nodded.

He burst out laughing.

Izayoi kicked him from her perch, "Stop laughing! It isn't funny!"

"It's_ hilarious_," he corrected, still chuckling. "My dear cousin, who was always the good one, I must point out, got kicked out…of Troia. Crystals, what did you do?"

She scowled at him, eyes narrowed, "It's…a long story,"

"Great, I've got time." Edge said, grinning at her.

Izayoi spared him a glare before she hopped to her feet, "Well, the short answer is that I…broke some rules,"

"How many is some?"

"Most."

"…You didn't kill anyone, did you?" he asked, rising an eyebrow.

Izayoi whipped around to glare at him again, "No! Of course I didn't kill anyone…for the love of…"

She started pacing. He watched her for a moment and waited patiently for her to continue. This, he was sure, was going to be a good story.

His cousin sighed, still pacing, "I just…got into a lot of arguments with the Epopts and all my classmates. I'm the last person that would fit into that place. I think the last straw was me calling them out on how poorly they handled the situation during the war."

She sat back down on the edge of his desk, this time with her back to him. "Besides, they wouldn't even let me into their guard."

"Their loss," Edge remarked, shrugging again.

She tossed him an all too familiar grin over her shoulder, but he quickly flipped it around with a quick comment.

"So…now your back here because you got kicked out of where you were before? I hope you're not here asking for money,"

Izayoi glared at him and looked a little offended and possibly even hurt. "That is not fair at all, Edward. I didn't come back because I couldn't stay in Troia,"

"Ugh, please," he said, holding up his hands. "I won't call you Izzy if you don't call me _that_,"

"It's your name, isn't it?" she teased.

He frowned at her, "I'm the king now, surely I can legally change it…"

"To what?" she asked, legs swinging back and forth in the air. "Please tell me you aren't still going by Edge, that is so ridiculous,"

He just stared at her.

She scoffed and rolled her eyes, "Wow…"

"Anything you say is invalid! You got kicked out of _Troia_," Edge retorted, crossing his arms. He sighed, "So, if you didn't come here because you got kicked out, then why are you here?"

Izayoi looked uncharacteristically cautious at that moment and visibly hesitated before admitting; "Because, I wanted to come home."

Edge smiled slowly.

She smiled ever so slightly and then shrugged, hands braced on the end of the desk, "If you must know, I missed you too…just a little bit."

"I missed you too," he admitted.

Izayoi blinked and then glanced away, "I should have-"

"No," he cut her off, quickly shaking his head.

Her brow furrowed, "But-"

"No," Edge repeated, sharper this time. "I'm glad you weren't here."

"I could have helped,"

"No one could have helped,"

Izayoi studied him for a few heartbeats and then cleared her throat. "I could have helped _you_,"

"Your back _now_, that's all that matters." Edge said, waving a hand in dismissal of her worries. He really didn't want to have that conversation with her at this moment in time.

That could wait.

She hopped back to her feet, "I was hoping to just…stay here,"

Edge gave her a funny look, "Well obviously."

"I…" she paused and then took a deep breath. "I kind of…was hoping to stay as part of the guard,"

"…Yeah, obviously," he repeated, confused.

She blinked, "Are you okay with that?"

"Why wouldn't I be? I don't care what you do, honestly." Edge said, wondering if she wasn't telling him something.

Izayoi seemed relieved and grinned, "Well, I would assume there are limits to that statement,"

"I'm not kicking you out, if that's what you mean," he said.

"Even if I call you Edward all the time?" she asked.

Edge glared at her, "Alright, limits there are."

Izayoi chuckled drily.

He frowned thoughtfully, "I wonder how many people seneschal has gossiped to that your back since we've been talking…"

She shook her head, "No one. I made him promise me not to tell anyone."

"Why?" Edge asked, giving her a look.

Izayoi frowned, "You're not going to tell anyone either, that I'm your cousin, I mean."

"Again, why?"

She sighed and opened her hands in an imploring gesture. "Because, what would people think?"

"That…my cousin is back home," he answered sarcastically.

"I don't want special treatment, or anyone to think I'm getting special treatment because of who I am," she explained, sounding irritated. "And what if they thought I only came back now to try and usurp your authority?"

"That's stupid," Edge said, puzzled as to why she even concocted such an outlandish story.

"You and I know that, but other people might not," Izayoi pointed out.

Edge made a face, "No one thinks that,"

She flicked an annoyed look off to the side, and it was then that he knew.

His cousin knew why his parents had decided so suddenly to have her leave so many years ago, when they had been kids. How she had figured it out at that young an age when it had taken him much longer, he wasn't sure, but he could tell she did know.

The question was; did she think he didn't? The fact that she was skirting the topic made him think she was trying to ignore it and wasn't intending to ever bring it up with him. He felt a twinge of guilt, but maybe that was for the best.

"I'll hide who you are if that's what you really want," he commented, sighing. "I think it's stupid, but I'll do it for you."

Izayoi nodded, smiling slightly, "It's what I want."

"Have fun coming up with a cover story of who the hell you are and where you came from," he said, laughing slightly.

"Let me worry about that," Izayoi replied haughtily. "You just finish those letters to Rydia,"

"Alright, that is going on the limit list," Edge complained, glaring at her. "You are making up stories."

"Am I?" she stated ominously.

They lapsed into silence, and he just grinned, watching her look around the room as if studying and taking in every bland detail.

It was good to have her back, even if he could hardly correlate this woman to the annoying little tagalong of a cousin he remembered from when they were kids. That seemed like such a long time ago, and even through the nostalgia he felt, there was a hint of guilt.

Nothing had really changed between them. They had so easily slipped back into the bickering, sibling-like relationship they'd always had, but it didn't change how utterly long it'd been since he'd seen her last.

"Hey Izayoi?"

She stopped inspecting his bookcase and turned back around, "Yes?"

Edge hesitated, "I'm…sorry I didn't seek you out at all,"

Her expression shifted slightly, softened and she shrugged. "It's alright. You had a lot on your mind."

"…I guess." he muttered. "Honestly I…was just glad you weren't here, because at least if you were in Troia, I knew you were safe. But that also meant I didn't have to deal with thinking about you at all, and that wasn't fair."

Izayoi stared at him for a moment and then walked back over, sitting on the desk once more. She caught his gaze, "Are you saying you're glad to have me back?"

"That's a stupid question," Edge retorted. "You know I am. You're the only family I have left, and you're actually safe, so it's a relief."

"I'm glad to be back," she said, voice quiet. "I looked for you, in Troia, you know. When you were there with the other heroes?"

He laughed humorlessly, "I _avoided_ looking for you,"

"I know. I could tell." she teased, smirking. "Still, it was a relief to see you and know that you were safe. It's probably a good thing Troia doesn't have a lot of transportation, because you don't know how hard it was for me not to run straight back here when I heard what had happened."

"Your back now," he said. "That's all that matters."

She smiled, and he caught the moment it shifted to a more devious tilt. "So…was Rydia the blonde or the green haired one, because if you want my opinion-"

"-I don't," he interrupted.

"-the green haired one was way cuter." she finished as if he hadn't of spoken.

Edge glared at her, "I'm going to throw something at you,"

Izayoi chuckled and hopped to her feet again, "Shut up and let me see all the fancy weapons you got on this little save the world trip. I'm _dying _to feel real weapons again, and knowing you, you'd love to show them off anyway."

He grinned, "I would! I have two from the _moon_, you know…"

* * *

**Author's Note: I hope you all enjoyed this random piece of fic.**

**Also, there is a call-back to another story of mine, what with why Izzy got sent to Troia in the first place...actually it's a call back to 2 different stories, now that I think about it...**

**Again, I figured if your reading my stuff you've probably been reading ALL of it and are caught up. If not, I apologize.**

**Thanks for reading!**


End file.
